We argue that the workings of world metal markets can be characterised by three facts: Fact One: Global determinants of prices do not dominate market-specific ones. Fact Two (in its simplest form): The relative price of a metal is inversely proportional to its relative volume of production. If,...

Long-term projections of global food demand are heavily dependent on which functional form of the food demand equation is used. Given that real incomes can change substantially over the long-term, key elements are the dependence of the income elasticity on income, which ensures that the food...

One measure of the change in the “quality” of consumption is the degree to which the consumption basket as a whole moves towards more luxurious goods, away from necessities. We introduce two related measures based on the luxury/necessity distinction. One is an index of the extent to which...

The dispersion of the distribution of relative prices in poor countries is substantially higher than that in the rich. As in 130+ countries relative prices are closely related to incomes, we develop a model that shows that the prices of luxuries (necessities) rise (fall) with income growth. This...

We investigate the quality of public and private information environments between Western European or Eastern European firms. We find that the quality of private information is higher for Eastern European than for Western European firms and the quality of public information is higher for Western...